Education

How to Make Funeral Arrangements

You might be wondering…how do I make funeral arrangements and how do I make sure I do it right? The good news is that it has absolutely nothing to do with how much money you spend.

Making arrangements is about planning an event that celebrates the life of your loved one. After designing meaningful and memorable services for many years, we can tell you that there are five critical elements involved.

The first critical element is the participation of multiple family members. Our all-time high was 15! Needless to say, our arrangement office was a bit crowded that day.

In general, you should feel free to involve as many family members as you like. A group discussion allows the family to reach a consensus on the best way to celebrate the life of their loved one. Different family members often have different viewpoints, and it’s best to work out any issues as a group.

The second critical element is to bring with you some of your favorite stories about your loved one. You won’t have to prepare anything; these will be stories that quickly come to mind.

The stories you have about your loved one will help form the basis for a beautiful memorial service or tribute. By hearing your stories, our funeral director or celebrant will be able to help you make the memorial service a true celebration of the life they lived.

The third critical element of a successful planning meeting is to be creative. Carson’s will never limit how you wish to celebrate the life of your loved one. It can be as simple or elaborate as you would like and doesn’t need to resemble a traditional funeral at all.

Family preferences have changed dramatically over the last twenty-five years. Traditional funerals that focused on the body of the deceased are no longer the standard. Instead, today’s families are looking for a funeral home that is willing to help them design an experience that honors the memories and celebrates a life well-lived.

Some of the most common things that families bring to our funeral home are items that help them tell the story of their loved one. Was your loved one a craftsman? Bring some of their tools? An avid golfer? Bring their golf clubs. A quiltmaker? Bring their quilts. The possibilities are endless. When you bring items like these it shifts the focus off of their death onto their life.

The fourth element of a successful arrangement meeting is that it must encompass the needs of every generation of your family. By adding different creative elements, it is possible to design a memorial service that provides a meaningful, and healing, tribute for every generation.

The fifth element of a successful arrangement meeting is that the family becomes comfortable leaning on our team at Carson’s.

Our funeral directors are experts at helping you design a unique and personal memorial tribute. After meeting with them, you can be at ease knowing that we will follow through and handle all of the details for you. Remember…we walk this path with families every day. You can lean on us…we know the way.

To summarize, the five critical elements of a successful arrangement meeting are the following.

Family participation. We welcome as many family members as you would like.

Bring their stories because their stories are their life.

Be creative. We will help you with ideas, and the possibilities are endless.

Involve every generation because that’s what family is all about.

Count on us to handle the details while you mourn the loss of your loved one.

When you and your family come to make arrangements, we will give you a tour of our funeral home including a visit to our onsite reception and catering facility. We have added this to our funeral home to make it easy for all of the attendees to meet with you after the service. Families find that it’s nice to not have to worry about hosting a large group of people at their homes. Some families also like to gather after the visitation at night for a meal, or the morning of the service for a family breakfast. It’s just another way that we try to serve your needs during this difficult time.

Some people ask us how we can do this every day. The answer is that it’s a calling. Every person who works at our funeral home doesn’t do it for a paycheck. We do it to serve families when they need it the most…at the time of the loss of a loved one.

If you have any questions about making arrangements, please don’t hesitate to call us at (563) 652-2444. We are available 24/7 to care for your family.

Search for:

Celebrations of Life

When a traditional funeral just doesn’t seem appropriate…consider having one of our unique One Last Time Events.